Stampede Blue
Respect is earned.
For the first time since 2018, zero Indianapolis Colts players cracked the NFL’s annual top 100 players list. It’s the 15th edition of the NFL Network countdown in which players voted on their peers to rank the league’s 100 best players ahead of the 2025 season. There were several snubs who could justifiably feel underrated, but it’s downright disrespectful to omit the cornerstone leaders on the Colts.
Is Jonathan Taylor not a top 10 running back? Despite missing three games last season with a high ankle sprain, Taylor (102.2) was one of three tailbacks to average over 100 yards per game. Taylor produced eight games with over 100 rushing yards, which was the third most in the league behind Eagles’ Saquon Barkley (11) and Ravens’ Derrick Henry (9). Taylor earned AFC Offensive Player of the Week after his 218-yard outburst with three rushing touchdowns against the Titans in Week 16, which was the second-best performance of the 2024 season by a running back.
To make matters worse, ten different running backs made the top 100 list, including Barkley (No. 1 – Eagles) Henry (No. 7 – Ravens), Jahmyr Gibbs (No. 27 – Lions), Josh Jacobs (No. 33 – Packers), Joe Mixon (No. 58 – Texans), Bijan Robinson (No. 62 – Falcons), Christian McCaffrey (No. 73 – 49ers), Kyren Williams (No. 85 – Rams), James Cook (No. 89 – Bills), Aaron Jones Sr. (No. 98 – Vikings). Ten members of the Super Bowl LIX champion Philadelphia Eagles made the cut, which is the most by a single team since the list debuted in 2011.
Either the perception of Taylor has shifted dramatically or perhaps it’s the perception of the running back position entirely. Taylor has been absent from the list since 2022, when he was ranked at fifth overall behind Rams’ Cooper Kupp at No. 4, quarterback Aaron Rogers at No. 3 in his last season with the Packers, plus two future first-ballot inductees headed for Canton in Aaron Donald at No. 2 and Tom Brady at No. 1. Taylor has proven he can flip games on its head when healthy and his combination of burst and vision still makes him one of the league’s most dynamic running backs.
Two Colts captains who earned 2024 Associated Press Second-Team All-Pro honors were among the biggest snubs, including left guard Quenton Nelson and linebacker Zaire Franklin. Sure, every player has a different criterion when there are so many positions on the field, but coming off an All-Pro campaign should be an automatic bid to being recognized in the annual top 100 list. Zero guards made the list, but it’s still surprising why an underrated, worthy candidate like Quenton Nelson was omitted in each of the last two seasons. Big Q is one of three offensive linemen in league history to be named to the Pro Bowl in each of his first seven seasons. Nelson last made the list in 2022, coming in at No. 28 overall, and has not missed...
